15 February 2023

New advanced education minister announced following provincial cabinet shuffle

Gillian Brown, staff

Following a provincial cabinet shuffle, a new minister is set to take charge of Manitoba’s post-secondary portfolio.

Previously the minister of mental health and community wellness and the minister of conservation and climate before then, Sarah Guillemard was announced as the new minister of advanced education and training on Jan. 30.

While Guillemard has no experience overseeing advanced education, she said that she believes “all departments influence one another.”

“It’s important to understand how government itself works, and the different processes internally,” she said.

UMSU and the Manitoba Alliance of Post-Secondary Students (MAPSS) are two organizations that work closely with the minister. Victoria Romero, chair of MAPSS and UMSU vice-president advocacy, highlighted the “incredibly complex” nature of the advanced education portfolio.

There have been incredible barriers to advanced education throughout history, and understanding how to open those barriers and to make education accessible for everyone throughout the province is not an easy task,” she said.

Romero said that given Guillemard’s prior position in the legislature, they are particularly hopeful to see engagement from the minister regarding the issue of student mental health.

“ We’re hoping that Minister Guillemard will have a deep understanding of the common, complex concern of students’ mental health and the mental health crisis that is occurring all over the country right now,” she added.

One concern that MAPSS has regarding the appointment of the new minister is the fact that the province’s five-year mental health plan established under Guillemard, “A Pathway to Mental Health and Community Well-

ness: A Roadmap for Manitoba,” makes no mention of post-secondary students.

Guillemard plays a second role that concerns students at the U of M. In 2016, she was elected as MLA of Fort Richmond — the provincial riding that the U of M’s Fort Garry campus is situated in. She still occupies this position today.

Guillemard is currently familiarizing herself with the specific concerns of post-secondary institutions. One such issue involves developing a “framework of accountability” following a 2020 report from the auditor general that highlighted a lack of government oversight in post-secondary institutions.

A concern among post-secondary students and faculty that emerged from this report was the possibility of implementing performance-based funding for Manitoba post-secondary institutions.

“I’ll continue that work of exploring what accountability looks like and what measures would be acceptable to part-

ners in this field so that we can really address those recommendations,” Guillemard said.

Guillemard is also looking forward to continuing discussions regarding the labour needs of the province.

As budget announcement season approaches, Romero said that MAPSS and UMSU are hoping to see an increase in the operating grants of publicly funded post-secondary institutions. They are also hoping that there is no rise in the maximum tuition fee increase percentage.

Regarding changes coming to post-secondary education, Guillemard said that she can’t reveal specifics yet, but that she anticipates “good news in the short term for sure.” She said that the province is currently communicating budgets to post-secondary institutions, “so there will be some exciting news in that realm.”

Romero pointed to both the union and the alliance’s dissatisfaction with Jon Reyes’s outreach to post-secondary

institutions while he acted as minister of advanced education, skills and immigration.

He performed the role, but didn’t particularly vocalize or listen to the concerns that we were presenting to him, and we didn’t really have the opportunity to present them,” Romero said.

Romero emphasized that even though the new minister does not have professional experience overseeing advanced education, “the most important quality the minister could have is the ability to listen to students.”

“ The will to understand the impact of advanced education on individuals within it, whether it be the students, professors or otherwise, is crucial,” she said.

Romero added that she and the rest of the UMSU team would “love to build the foundation of laying down a consistent, collaborative relationship with the minister and with the province in general.”

Colton McKillop, staff

The U of M will provide free menstrual products in campus bathrooms as part of a new pilot project to combat period poverty.

The university hopes to combat period poverty—a term for lack of access to menstrual products—by stocking pads and tampons in eight bathrooms in University Centre and one bathroom each at the Bannatyne and William Norrie campuses.

Menstrual products will be available in women’s and gender neutral bathrooms in order to increase access to products for all those who menstruate.

UMSU released a statement announcing the project on Feb. 9.

“Period poverty and stigma surrounding menstruation are very real issues impacting people around the world and in our province,” the statement read.

“Menstruation is a part of human existence and no person should have to sacrifice their education because of it.”

The statement noted that the program would help students struggling with rising living costs due to inflation.

UMSU vice-president advocacy Victoria Romero and UMSU women’s representative Christine Yasay have worked in collaboration with U of M vice-provost (students) Laurie Schnarr to establish the program. Schnarr has agreed to allocate about $70,000 to fund the project.

Other schools such as the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa have implemented similar programs.

Products will also be available at select UMSU community representatives’ centres. UMSU also plans to put a call out for donations of pads and tampons at the university’s foodbank.

photo

/ Faith Peters / staff

U of M project will provide free pads, tampons on campus

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Nominations open to honour Indigenous campus community

U of M’s Indigenous Excellence Awards renamed

Kasey Pashe, staff

Nominations for U of M’s Honouring Our Indigenous Campus Community recognition are now open.

The office of the vice-president (Indigenous) will recognize individuals from the university’s Indigenous community who make a difference through their positive involvement at the U of M campuses. Previously named the Indigenous Awards of Excellence, the honouring ceremony will take place this June.

Six students, two faculty members and two staff will be recognized at the ceremony. Indigenous student nominees must be currently enrolled at the U of M in at least 18 credit hours over the fall and winter terms as an undergraduate, or studying at the graduate level. Students who are chosen will receive $250 each from Financial Aid and Awards.

One of the two faculty members to be recognized must have served at least one year at the U of M and the second must have been with the university for at least 10 years. Examples of faculty staff include professors, fulltime lecturers and librarians, among other positions. Indigenous staff members who are not classified as faculty can also be nominated.

Director of Indigenous engagement and communications Ruth Shead said that the name was changed in response to feedback from previous years’ winners, who felt it was more accurate to say they were being honoured for their work rather than winning an award.

“ We just had some long conversations about what is really the purpose here, and the purpose is to honour people,” Shead said.

In previous years, award winners were given the high honour of being wrapped in a star blanket to commemorate their positive impact within the Indigenous campus community.

A committee composed of Indigenous employees from the U of M’s Bannatyne campus, Fort Garry campus and the Inner City Social Work program at the William Norrie Centre meets to review criteria for the special recognition, review feedback from previous years and determine changes going forward.

This year, the committee has decided to remove specific categories of recognition. They heard from previous nominees that having specific categories felt restrictive for nominees who could fit into multiple categories.

Shead also pointed out that

many nominees have gifts that were not included in the previous categories, such as Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and emphasized the importance of recognizing the wide variety of gifts and talents within the Indigenous community at the U of M.

“ There’s such a diversity of gifts that people are bringing to the university and [I’m] hoping that we’ll be able to just acknowledge people who are doing awesome things, making change, people who are changing this place for

The Manitoban up for two student journalism awards

Gillian Brown, staff

The Manitoban has been nominated for two John H. McDonald awards for excellence in student journalism.

Research & technology reporter Robert Moshe Thompson is nominated in the Indigenous reporting (print) category for his article, “ What it takes to research an Indigenous language.” The article interviews head of the U of M linguistics department Nicole Rosen about her experience researching Indigenous languages. Rosen wrote her thesis on Michif, one of the languages spoken by Métis people.

future generations,” she said.

“ We want to honour people who are making a difference.”

The Honouring Our Indigenous Campus Community ceremony will be held on June 20, 2023 in Marshall McLuhan Hall. All those on campus are welcome to attend.

The deadline to submit nominations is Feb. 28, 2023 at 4:30 p.m.

news@themanitoban.com

Arts & culture editor Alex Braun is nominated in the op-ed category for his article, “ The easy way out of caring for people,” an editorial that argues that medical assistance in dying for people who are not terminally ill is a “slippery slope.”

Both articles can be read on the Manitoban’s website.

There are 27 award categories and three nominations in most. The paper taking home the most nominations is the University of British Columbia’s newspaper, the Ubyssey, with 16 nominations.

The awards will be presented this Saturday at student journalism conference NASH85’s JHM gala.

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U of M Anti-Racism Task Force releases interim report

Report makes several recommendations to address racism on campus

Alicia Rose, staff

The University of Manitoba’s Anti-Racism Task Force released its interim report at the start of this month. The report contains several recommendations to help the university address racism on campus.

The task force, made up of racialized faculty, staff and students, was created by the U of M last February to help combat racism in the campus community by creating a list of recommendations for the university to implement.

Vice-president (administration) Naomi Andrew is one of the co-chairs of the task force. She explained that the group makes recommendations to the university based on consultations and the

lived experience of its members. She hopes that these recommendations will act as the foundation for university policy going forward.

One of the report’s recommendations is for the university to develop an overarching anti-racism policy.

Andrew noted that while the university has many policies regarding different issues such as sexual violence and maintaining a respectful work and learning environment, the task force highlighted the need for a policy concerning anti-racism.

She said that she hopes the task force can help to create a campus environment where students, staff and faculty can thrive, feel safe and belong.

“We’re really looking at

what needs to be in place to create that kind of environment for everyone,” Andrew said.

Some of the report’s other recommendations include reviewing U of M board of governors and senate policies via racial equity impact assessments with an intersectional lens, educating decision makers on how to apply an anti-racism framework to their decision-making processes and gathering and distributing more data on demographics in order to close gaps in diversity.

The report also recommends that the university establish a plan to communicate anti-racist messaging, beginning by creating a website to spread awareness about

racism in the university community and how to address it, a step the university completed with the creation of the UM anti-racism webpage at the start of Feburary.

Andrew explained that University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch created the task force to include people from different U of M campuses, communities and offices who can examine ongoing issues and co-ordinate a response.

U of M executive lead (equity, diversity, and inclusion) and distinguished professor in the department of history Tina Chen said that the task force and the report are intended to “lay the foundations for action” and establish a framework for account-

ability.

“The anti-racism task force brought together people from across the university community with a very similar mindset and a commitment to that action,” Chen said.

Chen hopes that the university develops an anti-racism strategy that can become one aspect of a broader anti-oppression strategy in the future.

The Anti-Racism Task Force will deliver its final report containing recommendations for an anti-racism strategy in the spring of this year.

news@themanitoban.com

photo / Faith Peters / staff

U of M offers help to students affected by earthquakes

Financial support available for those impacted

Colton McKillop, staff

The University of Manitoba is offering its support to students affected by the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The two countries were rocked by earthquakes last Monday that caused thousands of deaths and destroyed thousands of buildings.

At time of publication, more than 29,000 people in Turkey and over 3,500 people in Syria have lost their lives in the catastrophe, although rescue teams in Syria predict that the number of confirmed dead in their country will continue to increase. United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co- ordinator Martin Griffiths has predicted that the combined death toll from both countries will rise above 55,000.

The 7.5 and 7.8 magnitude earthquakes — the strongest to hit the region in almost a century — were felt in surrounding countries such as Lebanon, Armenia, Iraq, Cyprus, Egypt, Romania and Georgia.

In an online announcement, U of M vice-provost (students) Laurie Schnarr directed any who may need assistance to the variety of supports offered by the U of M.

“Any time a significant global event such as the earthquake in Turkey and Syria impacts our international students and those permanent residents who study and work here at the university we are concerned, and want to ensure that they know that we are concerned and that there are supports here for them,” Schnarr explained.

The U of M Spiritual Care and Multi-Faith Centre will be holding a Spaces for Solidarity event on Feb. 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room

521 A/B of University Centre. The meeting will offer a sharing support circle for Turkish and Syrian students to discuss their experiences in a safe space.

“Beyond that, one to one support of course is being offered as students need it through Spiritual Care,

UMSU board meeting Feb. 9

Ashley Puchniak, staff

The University of Manitoba Students’ Union held their biweekly board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9.

A large portion of the meeting’s open session was devoted to a presentation and discussion regarding the development of the U of M’s strategic plan. The first phase of the plan that the U of M is currently tackling is community consultation.

The community consultation entails visiting different groups in the U of M community to obtain feedback

on what the U of M’s future should look like.

The following stages of the strategic plan will see the university running community surveys and gathering further community input, drafting the plan itself and then presenting the draft to the senate and the board of governors by fall of 2023.

Students and executive board members were broken up into groups to discuss a set of prepared questions.

Some of the issues discussed by the groups included improving the accessibility of student counselling services

through the Student Counselling Centre,” Schnarr said.

Schnarr also expressed concern that students from Turkey or Syria may have difficulty contacting family or loved ones in their home countries.

She also worried that they might struggle to meet expenses for the rest of the term as a result, and said that the Financial Aid and Awards office is “waiting and ready” to assist any students who reach out.

“ That’s why in my message to students yesterday, I shared all of the available resources including financial aid and awards, the food bank, the emergency bursary,” she said. Students facing financial difficulties as a result of the earthquakes may access the university’s emergency bursary fund, established last year to provide monetary aid to those impacted by war, environmental catastrophe, international conflict and “extraordinary life events.”

The UM Foodbank — located at 518 University Cen-

tre and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — is also available for students struggling with expenses.

Any student whose coursework is affected by the impact of the earthquakes should reach out to their instructor immediately to discuss options. Any requests for extensions or deferrals should be directed to relevant instructors or an advisor within a student’s faculty. Additional academic support can be sought from Student Advocacy.

Schnarr also reminded students of other supports available, such as spiritual care providers with Spiritual Services and international student advisors with the U of M’s International Centre.

Faculty and staff may also access crisis supports such as the Employee Family Assistance Program, a service that allows U of M employees to access financial advice, wellness programming and legal support.

Student groups are also stepping up to help, with the University of Manitoba Muslim Students’ Association announcing that they will be donating the proceeds from their Friday Sales to those affected by the earthquakes.

and improving the representation of Black people, Indigenous people and other people of colour in university faculty and health care, as well as tuition costs for international students.

Following discussion of the strategic plan, the meeting went into closed session.

graphic / Jenna Solomon / staff

photo / Ebunoluwa Akinbo / staff

Research & Technology

Global applications of critical minerals

U of M professor leads Manitoba-based mineral research

Elah Ajene, staff

Rare earth elements and other metals are often termed “critical minerals,” as they are in high demand and economically essential.

From aerospace and electronics to national defence and energy generation, critical minerals are applied in a wide range of industries.

Although these resources are needed for an environmentally sustainable and digital economy, their supply chains are at risk of disruption.

University of Manitoba distinguished professor in the department of earth sciences Mostafa Fayek highlighted that a significant problem regarding these critical elements is that they are unequally distributed across the globe.

“Countries are always looking for critical elements and critical mineral deposits to make sure that the supply chain for their use is not disrupted,” Fayek said.

One of these critical minerals is lithium.

This naturally occurring element is mined from hard rock and brine — a highly concentrated saltwater solution that occurs underground.

Lithium is the lightest solid element, and its compounds enable clean energy and transportation through rechargeable battery technologies.

Canada is a potential supplier of lithium, and in Manitoba there are several companies actively exploring critical mineral deposits.

Today, lithium batteries are used by automobile companies such as Tesla, in common household items like security systems and medical devices and in many personal electronic devices such as cellphones, vaping devices, e-bikes and electronic toothbrushes.

Snow Lake Lithium, a Manitoba-based lithium mining company, projects that global lithium demand will more than double by 2024.

With this increase in demand, the company has stated its commitment toward supplying lithium to the electric vehicle and battery market across North America while reducing supply chain emissions.

In a collaboration between the University of Manitoba and Snow Lake Lithium, new research led by Fayek seeking to better understand the lithium deposits in Snow Lake, Man. is underway.

According to Fayek, the research project focuses on

two key areas — understanding how the lithium deposits formed and devising geochemical exploration techniques to search for more deposits.

To understand how these deposits form, Fayek uses geochemical techniques such as mineralogy. Mineralogy explores the internal crystal structure and physical and chemical properties of minerals.

“We look at this to try to understand what kinds of fluids help form these deposits,” he said.

He explained that these deposits could be hydrothermal, meaning a concentration of lithium due to hot waters circulating in the Earth’s crust, or magmatic, meaning

deposits formed during the crystallization of magma, or a combination of both.

Additionally, Fayek looks at alteration halos — a border of minerals left by hydrothermal flow in rocks — to explore these deposits.

Another element that Fayek has worked extensively on is uranium.

This metallic chemical element is found in many rocks, and is used as an abundant source of energy.

Uraninite is a highly radioactive ore mineral of uranium, which occurs naturally in uranium deposits and is very similar in composition to the used nuclear fuel that comes out of nuclear reactors.

Fayek’s previous research involved studying uranium

deposits as analogous to highlevel nuclear waste disposal below ground.

“If we can understand how this uraninite survived millions and billions of years in the subsurface, then perhaps we can mimic this in a deep geologic repository where we want to bury our high-level fluid,” he explained.

Like with lithium, Fayek’s uranium research also focuses on developing exploration strategies for finding uranium deposits buried deep within the ground.

“We’ve developed a method to actually determine the ages of these uranium deposits,” he said.

As uranium deposits generally form in fractures and faults in the earth’s crust,

Fayek explained that this age dating technique is used in determining which fractures and faults have ore deposits.

Uraninite is used in the creation of fuel for nuclear reactors, and also to produce uranium for nuclear weapons.

Fayek noted that commercial nuclear reactors as a source of energy are very environmentally friendly.

“They produce the nuclear power, and that’s probably the greenest form of energy you can get,” he said.

“There’s no CO2 emission from a nuclear power plant, zero.”

graphic / Dallin Chicoine / staff

“They produce the nuclear power and that’s probably the greenest form of energy you can get”

— Mostafa Fayek, University of Manitoba distinguished professor in the department of earth sciences

The anatomy responsible for speech

What happens in your mouth when you talk

Robert

Moshe Thompson, staff

There are many organs that help produce speech, such as the tongue, lips, teeth and other structures within the mouth like the palate.

Phonetics — a branch of linguistics — studies the way speech sounds are produced and perceived in human language.

Robert Hagiwara, an assistant professor in the U of M department of linguistics, has done extensive research in phonetics, particularly on the properties of the American “r.”

The way the “r” is pronounced in North American English is unusual compared to most “r”-like sounds, which are usually trills in other languages.

A trill is a series of flaps — a quick flip of the tongue against the palate — that produces sound. The Spanish “r” is an example of a trilled consonant.

In 1995, Hagiwara wrote a paper about the acoustic differences between the way men and women pronounce the American “r.” He said that at the time, women’s voices were not as well-studied.

A review of phonetic literature on vowels from 1992 found that only four per cent of studies had female data.

Part of the reason for the lack of research on women’s voices was the idea that they

were an othered version of men’s voices. There was a widespread yet incorrect assumption that the impact of anatomical differences could be calculated and accounted for without actually observing women’s voices.

One major anatomical difference is that female vocal tracts are about 20 per cent shorter than male vocal tracts. The internal proportions of their vocal tracts are also different.

For males, the oral cavity as measured from the incisors to the back of the throat is shorter than the upper throat. For females, the oral cavity, measured the same way, and the upper throat are the same length.

An effect of these differences is that women’s vowel formant frequencies are higher. Formants are the natural frequency in which the vocal tract vibrates.

Hagiwara explained that what sets the American type “r” apart is its unusually low frequency.

Hagiwara intended to study the interaction between the expectation of a low formant frequency for the American “r” specifically and the expectation of higher acoustic cues from women generally.

However, after an initial investigation that compared the American type “r”

to a similar sounding “r” in another language, he found that the relationship between men’s and women’s American “r” was so complex that it had to be analyzed alone.

With a new repertoire of data from a previously understudied population, Hagiwara had the tools to investigate several unexplored issues in acoustic phonetics.

He was able to demonstrate that Canadian English and Southern Californian English were similar, but not in the ways that had been previously assumed.

Hagiwara explained that his work is centred on determining the validity of assumptions such as this.

“I do this work that involves filling in gaps in what we actually know versus what we believe and turn out not to have clear evidence for,” he said.

research@themanitoban.com

“I do this work that involves filling in gaps in what we actually know versus what we believe and turn out not to have clear evidence for”

— Robert Hagiwara, U of M assistant professor in the department of linguistics

Finding beauty and inspiration in every experience

The little moments and memories that make life special

Elah Ajene, staff

Iwas raised on a quiet estate in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

On Sunday evenings, my mum, little brother and I would drive to Jabi Lake Park — 10 minutes away from our home — to watch the sunset.

We would thank the universe for its beauty and appreciate our ancestors while listening to Aṣa’s 2007 album on repeat. This was my fondest childhood memory.

Jabi Lake Park on Sunday evenings was not the most ideal scenery. It was the aftermath of a typical Saturday Owambe — littered with plastic bottles, empty food containers and wrappers.

Like the bulk of the infrastructure in Nigeria, the park was mismanaged and lacked security. The lake itself was an eyesore and covered entirely with weeds.

The sunsets weren’t necessarily spectacular either. They were rather dull, as Abuja tends to be cloudy most days.

Yet, with each passing week, we chose to watch the sunset at that very spot.

So, why did we keep going back to Jabi Lake Park? In all honesty, the near proximity to my house was an obvious influencing factor. However, it was more about what the sunset signified to us — warmth, comfort and completeness.

Although life was transient and ever-changing, there was the sureness of this powerful entity coming back up.

To this day, I find beauty and solace in each sunset.

I spent a considerable chunk of my formative years at a boarding school in Nigeria.

During this period, when I was not counting down the days until I got to go home, I found a new source of beauty in print newspapers.

Devoid of telephones or electronics at school, it often felt like my only connection to the rest of society was the daily newspaper delivered to the school’s library.

My morning routine after

breakfast involved rushing to grab a copy of the Punch or Vanguard newspaper as soon as the librarian opened the doors.

The thing was, most days the stories were the same — our failed government, our failed infrastructure and the unbearable reality that many Nigerians were faced with.

I mean, what did one expect in the media of the supposedly failed Giant of Africa?

But some days, I would stumble upon stories about the remarkable resilience of our people — thriving despite our government, rather than because of it.

I would read and re-read rich and vibrant stories highlighting the successes of Nigerians in the fashion industry, the global music scene and the literary world.

I found beauty and comfort in these stories.

It never occurred to me that six years later, I would be part of a publication sharing my own words and bringing stor-

ies to life.

It’s fascinating to explore how things like stories and sunsets, in their own unique way, play a defining role in one’s identity and outlook on life.

What if I had stopped flipping through the newspaper after seeing the first negative headline, and developed a great disdain for print newspapers instead?

Or what if I had only focused on the downsides of Jabi Lake Park?

I would have failed to notice how beautiful the sunsets were.

In a world filled with so much ugliness, finding the beauty in everything has become my own version of resistance.

Today, I find beauty in quite literally everything.

I find beauty within myself and those around me. I find beauty in all forms of love, both past and present. I find beauty in every moment and every memory.

From brainstorming ideas for the research & technology section at the Manitoban’s basement office in Helen Glass, to mundane moments like my bus rides across the city to get to campus, everything in my immediate experience affirms my deep belief that, as far-fetched as it may seem, we are surrounded by so much beauty and inspiration.

So, this is me urging a faceless audience to find beauty in everything, even if it’s the subtle transition of day to night.

There is so much life to experience, so much beauty all around us and so many sunsets to see.

Cruises: petri dishes for crimes and disease

All that could go wrong aboard a seafaring vessel

Sarah Cohen, staff

At the very end of the 19th century, Albert Ballin set forth to create the world’s first cruise ship. The ship, named the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, allowed passengers to enjoy the pastimes of the time period while staying in state of the art cabins. Travelling to various destinations by the start of the 20th century, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise was one of the first Caribbean cruises.

However, only a few years later, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise crashed on a voyage. While no one died in that incident, less than a decade after that the Titanic sank, killing over 1,500 people.

There are numerous other examples of cruise ship disasters, such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy in 2012 that claimed the lives of 32 people. Even discounting the potential negligence of a captain and crew, deaths on cruise ships are far from unheard of.

An individual example is that of George Smith, a newlywed who disappeared while on his 2005 honeymoon. His disappearance left a string of mysterious clues, including a bloodstain. Even so, the FBI investigation that followed came up with nothing conclusive, and the case remains unsolved.

While Smith’s case may not have been determined to be a crime, crime certainly exists on cruise ships.

According to a 2019 report examining crime at sea, sexual assault of all magnitudes is the highest reported crime on cruise ships. The report added that, historically, there has been a lack of transparency in reporting crimes on cruise ships, as cruise lines have largely been left to police themselves.

often been coerced into not reporting crimes or pressing charges.

In 2014, a woman on a cruise ship was violently assaulted by a crew member, only for 911 calls placed by passengers who heard her pleas for help to be assigned a lower priority than an overflowing toilet. That’s not even mentioning the number of people who have gone missing while on ships as either a tourist or an employee.

Cruise ships are also notorious for exploiting their workers. Cruise ship employees

subject working in finance explained that they did not feel secure in their employment, as the cruise line could terminate or amend their contracts and could change their work schedule with little to no notice.

Stay alive and healthy by staying off cruise ships

As a result, the history of crime on cruise ships has seen a pattern where victims have

often work 100-hour weeks for low pay and remain on call constantly. Research done in 2015 found that working conditions onboard cruise ships left many employees exhausted physically and mentally.

Additionally, one research

On top of all of this, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic showed how disease onboard cruises can spread like wildfire. In February of 2020, a passenger who tested positive for COVID after disembarking the Diamond Princess cruise ship spread the virus to over 700 other passengers, leaving the entire ship on lockdown.

The Dia-

sea for months. If these reasons aren’t enough to make you steer clear of cruises, some estimates place the cost of a weeklong cruise in 2023 at anywhere from $1,900 to over $3,000 per person. That is potentially as much as a U of M faculty of arts student’s tuition for an entire semester, depending on their course load. Or, alternatively, hundreds of Disneyland churros. Think about all you could do instead of spending money on a cruise.

Disregarding my irrational fear of the ocean, cruises are essentially petri dishes for crime, disease and exploitation. No one should be subjected to being on a cruise as either an employee or a passenger.

Stay alive and healthy by staying off cruise ships.

mond Princess was just the first of many cruise ships affected by the spread of COVID. By March, there were dozens of ships with tens of thousands of people on board trying to find a port that would allow them to dock. Many found themselves stranded at comment@themanitoban.com

The lacklustre aftermath of BLM protests

Empty promises and hollow actions can’t change systemic racism

Dina

Hamid, staff

George Floyd’s death in May 2020 sparked countless Black Lives Matter protests and rallies around the world, including here in Winnipeg, and there was no doubt in my mind that I was going.

The night before the Winnipeg protest, my sister and I bought posters and spent hours using our limited creativity to think of what to write. The next day, some of my friends gathered at my house and we made more posters, loaded the car and set off to the legislative building to scream for our rights.

I was fully prepared to attend a protest of 100 people or fewer. To my surprise, thousands of Winnipeggers came out to the Justice 4 Black Lives rally. This was shocking to me, since there has not been a time in my life when I have seen people in Winnipeg show solidarity with Black people more than this.

It was a heartfelt moment that I and everyone in the car with me felt in the air. However, the moment quickly went away when a white lady in front of us with an interchangeable “Justice for George Floyd” and “All Lives Matter” poster was publicly ousted from the crowd.

Clearly, not everyone was there for the right reasons, but for that brief moment I was proud of us and our progress.

It has been nearly three years since that rally.

Since then, black squares have been deleted from Instagram feeds, stickers have been taken down, signs have been discarded, protest posters have been lost to time, “BLM” and linktrees have been scrubbed off bios and just like that, the performances were over.

Looking back, that’s what the support for Black Lives Matter was — a performance. Those international protests resulted in a heap of promises that intended to address systemic racism. However, three years later it seems like not much has changed.

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a knee and did his little photo op around the Parliament Hill Black Lives Matter rally, the Parliamentary Black Caucus, a group that consists of MPs and senators, issued a letter to the government that included 44 calls to action addressing racism.

Trudeau, obviously, embraced these recommendations and

said he would work alongside the caucus to identify how to proceed.

The 44 calls to action fell under five categories: supporting Black-owned businesses, police and justice reforms, investing in Black artists and culture, collecting disaggregated, race-based data and diversifying the public sector.

About a year after the protests, CBC News did a full analysis of the federal government’s actions done to address and combat anti-Black racism. According to the CBC, the government had made progress, budgetary allocations or bill proposals related to 24 out of the 44 calls to action by Aug. 1, 2021.

Despite this, racially-motivated police brutality persists.

For instance, a Black University of Toronto student is currently suing the Toronto police, alleging that in 2021 he was unlawfully stopped on his way to school by three Toronto police officers who tackled him, placed a knee on his neck

— the same action that killed George Floyd — and tasered him repeatedly.

Although some Canadians believe that police brutality only affects our American neighbours, this is not the case. A 2020 report from the Ontario Human Rights Commission found that Black Canadians accounted for 32 per cent of all those charged by police in Toronto from 2013 to 2017, despite making up less than nine per cent of the city’s population.

Racism in policing is a problem that still affects Black Canadians today. Released last summer, an analysis of race-based data gathered by Toronto police in 2020 found that Black people are 2.2 times more likely to have police encounters and are 1.6 times more likely to have force used against them during these encounters. The police chief himself expressed regret over the report’s findings and vowed to combat systemic racism in the force.

based police violence here. The CBC compiled data about those who died or were killed during police encounters between 2000 and 2017, and found that although Indigenous peoples made up 10.6 per cent of Winnipeg’s population during that time, over 60 per cent of people killed during police interactions in Winnipeg were Indigenous.

Apologies, empty gestures and hollow promises do nothing for Black people except make their eyes roll. Actual police and justice reform is necessary to fix the underlying systemic racism that plagues the lives of Black people and other people of colour. When will changes be implemented to protect the well-being of Black bodies? When will we finally stop seeing the words Black, dead and police officer in the same recurring headlines? We all believed that enough was enough three years ago, but when will we finally see actual change?

While there isn’t much data available about anti-Black racism in Winnipeg policing, we still have a problem of racecomment@themanitoban.com

Apologies, empty gestures and hollow promises do nothing for Black people except make their eyes roll

The unjust society

There is no reason for some to suffer while others live in luxury

Braden Bristow, staff

The very fact that there are homeless citizens in our city is a glaring problem. My issue is that there are people suffering on the streets while others sit comfortably in their homes. The fact that you can drive through neighbourhoods such as Linden Woods, Tuxedo and Wellington Crescent and see massive houses, then drive through other neighbourhoods and see unhoused people is just plain wrong.

A study by End Homelessness Winnipeg found that between May 24 and 25 of 2022, there were at least 1,256 people experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, over 50 per cent of homeless people at that time were Indigenous. The 2021 Winnipeg census indicates that only about 14 per cent of the city itself is Indigenous.

Of course, even without being the result of systemic racism, homelessness is still an issue. Not having basic housing for the homeless in a city where over 46,000 people make above $100,000 a year is obscene.

While it is not necessarily fair to put the blame on the upper class of this city, it does help provide some perspective to draw a comparison between those who can afford the big house and the nice car and those who cannot even afford rent.

We could, however, put some blame on the City of Winnipeg. For example, in 2021, 27 per cent of the city’s budget was put toward the Winnipeg Police Service. That means over $301 million went just to policing. Meanwhile, in 2021 the city approved a 2022 budget that

included just $1.1 million to help homeless people.

The province of Manitoba, however, announced that it would put forward just over $15 million to help house and support the homeless. In

ing the homeless is, and should be, appreciated. However, there is an obvious issue when the city’s homeless receive only about 10 per cent as much as the $301 million budget going to police.

There is an obvious issue when the city’s homeless receive only about 10 per cent as much as the $301 million budget going to police

addition to this, the federal government committed $12.8 million from the Rapid Housing Initiative.

Any commitment to help -

This does tell us something important. Not only is there inequality among the citizens of Winnipeg, but there is a severe failure to acknowledge the real issues facing our city.

While the municipal government is only willing to

commit about $1 million to helping our homeless, the provincial and federal government are committing well above that benchmark. If the City of Winnipeg truly cared, the municipal government would reroute some of that police funding into housing, mental health and support initiatives.

are made up of individuals who care and want to make a difference. It is just unfortunate that these organizations are the exception and not the rule when it comes to supporting our homeless population.

As a city, we should strive to help those most in need. It is unacceptable that over a thousand people go without permanent housing while thousands of others live comfortably or even in luxury.

This may seem quite cynical and rather grim, but there are people in this city who really do care and try to make a difference. Organizations such as End Homeless Winnipeg, the Main Street Project and Harvest Manitoba do good work in Winnipeg, and comment@themanitoban.com

graphic / Jenna Solomon / staff

The Manitoban: 10” x 8”d

Education with a destination

Your ticket to a career that cultivates adventure.

Accelerate your career when you join a tourism education program. Browse available programs at travelmanitoba.com/ tourism-education

If you like change, this is the industry for you. Every day is different and it’s always so exciting.”

From our archives 100 years ago

* Whenever you see a mystery asteriisk that doesn’t have a matching footnote, it points here.

rows and columns are divided by black . These need to be filled in with numbers that is a set of numbers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

If you like Str8ts check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store. The solutions will be published here in the next issue.

Hidato Puzzle by M.J.D. Doering

STR8TS 629 SUDOKU

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For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

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If you ever see the † dagger symbol with no unmatched foot- note, it means the writer is saying the phrase while threatening you with a dagger.

Horoscopes for the week of Feb. 15

Zodiac tips for surviving life at the U of M

Damien Davis, staff ARIES

Your tarot card for the week is the Ace of Swords reversed. Your horns have grown, and they’ve clouded your judgement. You may think you’re acting rationally and within the best interests of others, but the curves of your spiral shapes have prevented you from seeing the stubbornness disguised as true objectiveness. This card asks you to trim and rethink your decisions. You cannot shed like a deer, so you had best get to sawing.

TAURUS

Your tarot card for the week is the Nine of Cups reversed. Materialism doesn’t suit you. Like your bull kin, the colour green can be easier to see and identify than the colour red. This card asks you to remember that while money can very well buy you happiness, when we indulge too much we lose sight of what can also bring joy — love, in all its forms.

GEMINI

Your tarot card for the week is the Queen of Wands. This card recognizes that you live a busy life, and as a Gemini multi-tasking is something you’re proficient in. Two selves working together is a force to be reckoned with. However, you cannot let the fear of judgement prevent you from putting yourself out in the world as you hide behind books. You have plenty to offer those around you, so join hands with yourself and step into the light. How can you silence someone with two identities, two hearts beating as one and two sets of wits?

’Toban Tips

CANCER

Your tarot card for the week is the Three of Wands. You have been preparing for “this,” planning and organising it, and it will come to fruition. This card reminds you that everything is progressing steadily due to your determination and drive, but it’s natural to feel cautious and even nervous. There will always be challenges ahead, not just in your academic career but in life as a whole. This does not mean you don’t have a choice. Crabs are creatures that can walk in all directions, and you can too.

LEO

Your tarot card for the week is the Nine of Pentacles. It’s time for self-celebration and as a Leo you’re no stranger to it. This week-long break will be a time for rest and relaxation, and for getting in tune with yourself again. This card tells you that you’ve accomplished so much, and while the work is not done it’s important to reward yourself for what you’ve achieved so far. Smooth out your fur, braid your mane, sit back and consider the glory you’ve obtained.

VIRGO

Your tarot card for the week is the Two of Pentacles reversed. It’s admirable to be able to push yourself and reach finish lines you thought you’d never reach, but this card warns you that you run the risk of struggling to maintain your schedule. Extracurriculars and volunteering do make resumes and applications look good, but what use are they if you can’t complete them due to constant fatigue? Are you over-investing, throwing yourself into these constantly busy weeks at the expense of yourself? Reassess, and more importantly, get some rest. You’ve got your whole life to be busy, no point rushing into it.

How to deal with annoying classmates

Dear wise and glorious Toby, I am currently in a class with someone who is SO INCREDIBLY ANNOYING. He is disruptive, he talks back to the prof and he derails class pretty much every lecture. I have tried to overcome my annoyance, but I’m finding that it’s hard to want to stay in class when this person is so irritating. What should I do?

Sincerely,

Annoyed student

Dear Annoyed student, If this student is as disruptive as you say, it might be time to reclaim the space. While it is important for everyone to be able to participate in free and equal discourse, the classroom should also be a safe and comfortable place to learn and it sounds like this student is turning your class into a difficult environment to learn in. To address this, asking your professor a question that will re-focus the learning material or fur-

LIBRA

Your tarot card for the week is the Nine of Swords. This week has not been kind to you, we know. You’re not sure when the burnout began, but you’re deep within it and feel like you’re crawling to the break. This card acknowledges that, but advises that too much worrying can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you obsess and predict, you could very well make it happen by willpower alone. The scales are heavy this week and the balance is in jeopardy. Go back to what you know — the comforts that keep you rejuvenated.

SCORPIO

Your tarot card for the week is the Four of Swords. It’s time to close up shop, scorpion. You’ve been doing your best to keep up with your studies, work and social life, but it’s simply time to feed the other things living inside you. You may have been feeling spiritually starved — artistically starved even — and this card is telling you that it’s time to clear the mental clutter. It’s time to meditate, moult away the previous self and rise anew. Solitude can be so awful, but it’s necessary for the work of recharging.

SAGITTARIUS

Your tarot card for the week is the Six of Wands. It’s all coming together, archer. Those months of worrying and mourning a future you felt wasn’t taking shape are behind you, and success is here. You’ve reached a milestone and it’s time to throw away self-doubt. You’re receiving public recognition and it’s time to be proud of it. Put yourself out there and acknowledge that you’ve got passion in your craft, and that it has fed your abilities. Hold your head up higher, straighten your back and know your worth.

CAPRICORN

Your tarot card for the week is the King of Cups. You’re at your best this week, and you’ve managed to find the balance between your emotional and logical thinking. This card represents the fact that you’ve gained control of things that previously felt wild and loose within the fields. But you rode into the dusk, and you brought them back into the barn. This wasn’t easy, but the rewards speak for themselves. Not everyone, however, is on the same level of balance, and you might feel confused about the chaos in other people’s hearts. Remember — that was you once, so don’t spoil your accomplishments with arrogance.

AQUARIUS

Your tarot card for the week is the Ace of Cups. Are you repressing emotions as a water-bearer? Let the tears flow. It’s time to gravitate toward self-love, and this card is here to demand you take out the space for it. The fear of getting hurt, of betrayal and your own jaded perception of the world hold you back. It’s time for self-discovery and to familiarize yourself with — your self! Take the journey and make the choice to be your own companion in the last remaining winter months.

PISCES

Your tarot card for the week is the Eight of Swords. Do you feel trapped? Are you experiencing the claustrophobia of a prison that is not physical, but mental? This feeling can start to affect your perception of the future. Be it an unfulfilling period in your life or things not going as expected, it’s natural to feel the way you do right now. This card reminds you that these beliefs and thoughts of negativity and self-doubt no longer serve you, so don’t overthink it. You’ve never been wrong before, and your instincts have always been your ally. Fish have been on the earth for millions of years. It’s time to tune into the wisdom passed down from them to you.

ther the discussion could be helpful. Respectful confrontation can be key when it comes to dealing with difficult people.

Good luck, Toby the Bison

To ask Toby a question, email comment@themanitoban.com

Grief as love in ‘Heart Like a Pow Wow’

Animated short written by U of M alum in CBC Gem series

Damien Davis, staff

Acollection of animated shorts made by Indigenous creators was released on the free streaming service CBC Gem Jan. 27. How To Lose Everything is a five-episode series that explores loss.

One of the shorts, titled “Heart Like a Pow Wow,” was written by U of M alum Tara Williamson and directed by Indigenous artist and illustrator Chief Lady Bird. Williamson also composed, produced and performed the music for the episode.

The making of “Heart Like a Pow Wow” started with series creator Christa Couture, who reached out to Williamson seeking their involvement.

“Christa had approached me about participating in this project, and was looking for grief — grief things, writing, and I have tons of grief writing,” Williamson explained.

“Heart Like a Pow Wow” tells the story of a baby coming into being and “the love that precedes grief and inevitably foreshadows it” through an Anishinaabe lens.

Williamson’s writing for the episode was influenced by their own experience with love and grief, reflecting on their son who passed away at just over six months old in 2016.

When putting together the short, Williamson thought back to the poetry they wrote during their pregnancy. They said that they wanted to look back at that time “through the filter of grief as love.” Williamson explained that Couture was very supportive of the idea.

“I knew I could ask, and I knew I’d be able to do it,” they said.

Williamson said that being able to collaborate with the other Indigenous artists on the project was not an opportunity they took for granted.

“I think I’ve had the real privilege and joy of working with Indigenous artists,” Williamson said.

“Christa was one of my music mentors as well when I started playing music professionally. She was one of the people I would call and be like,

’Toban turntable

Andy Shauf — Norm

Alex Braun, staff 4/5 stars

Saskatchewan-born singer-songwriter Andy Shauf is a consummate storyteller. This reputation has followed him around for his entire career, and he seems quite happy to perpetuate it.

Shauf’s earlier work fit firmly into the storytelling idiom of folk and country, writing short character songs each in their own discrete world. But he has since gone beyond the bounds of the song to make rather ambitious concept albums that trace admirably strict storylines.

2020’s The Neon Skyline is a carefully rendered story told in album form. However, in the course of crafting such a precise story sometimes lines important to the plot struggled to fit in the confines of a melody, or expository information clogged up the verses.

Shauf’s new album, Norm, avoids these pitfalls by drastic-

ally stripping back the specificity and cranking up the mystery. The lyrics here are much more minimal, and obviously very carefully edited — this is the only album I’ve ever heard of that has a story editor.

The actual plot is a little vague as a result. From what I can gather, we follow the titular character Norm through an increasingly sordid and strange affair with an object of his attraction who he fantasizes about and stalks.

Shauf was inspired by David Lynch’s infamously enigmatic movie Mulholland Drive, mostly, it seems, in trying to escape the rigid structure of a traditional story in favour of more impressionistic and surreal world-building.

Shauf has taken to this new focus quite well. Norm is an expertly crafted piece of soft

rock first and foremost. Shauf has always had lovely arrangement impulses and a flair for deceptively simple melodies,

‘how do I book a tour, how do I book a show?’”

Williamson added that they have been lucky enough to work with and receive mentorship from numerous Indigenous artists throughout their career, and that they look to collaborate with other Indigenous artists at every opportunity.

When asked about the significance of their work being on television, Williamson said

that they aren’t focused on whether the work finds a wide audience.

“I don’t care if other people don’t care, or don’t like it,” they said. “We do, and we see it.”

They hope people see the beauty of powwow culture and the intricacies within it.

“People have roles and responsibilities, and it’s family and people take care of each other,” Williamson said.

“And it happens to look [...] beautiful with Chief Lady Bird’s art, you know? And it looks that beautiful in person too.”

How to Lose Everything is streaming on CBC Gem.

arts@themanitoban.com

but his need for strict lyrical focus constantly had his music playing second fiddle.

In Norm, the melodies and mood take centre stage, filling out the minimal songs with glimpses of eerie, easy listening sleaze and lavish orchestral touches. Shauf

keeps his distinct recording style too, capturing all the ASMR-like texture he can muster from his softly strummed acoustic guitars and impossibly light drums.

Songs like “Halloween Store” and “Long Throw” have a dreamy but off-putting way of floating along. There’s this placid stillness

and strangeness that compliments the newly mysterious songwriting perfectly.

On its surface, Norm could be taken as just another Andy Shauf album, but diving deeper into the work shows that nearly every element has subtly evolved into an amorphous and strange form.

Shauf’s past stories are so carefully contained and constructed that they feel like ships in a bottle, never escaping their confines. But Norm is a mercurial nightmare — something that lingers in dark corners of your mind long after the record ends.

Norm is available on major streaming services. Andy Shauf is playing Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg on March 17. Info and tickets can be found at https://www. winnipegfolkfestival.ca/concert/03-17-2023-andy-shauf/.

image

/ Tara Williamson / provided

Every element has subtly evolved

’Toban about town — Coffee Culture

A coffeehouse on prime real estate

Jessie

Krahn, staff

Aside from a few chains sporadically peppering Pembina highway, Winnipeg South is sorely lacking coffeehouses. Even a few of the Starbucks locations that used to work as base camps for rogue U of M students cut adrift by busy campus libraries have been lost in recent years.

In the wake of these closures, the first Winnipeg location of Ontario-based franchise Coffee Culture came to Pembina prominence right along the BLUE route to St. Norbert.

First and foremost, the café’s coffee is a rich and smooth blend that works as a solid pick-me-up on weekdays. My friends and I like to splurge on flavoured lattes when we visit, and the butter toffee latte is creamy and ideal for cozying up in the café’s booths during good conversation.

For those who do decide to dine-in rather than take-out, small pieces of biscotti are served with certain lattes and signature drinks.

The café’s iced coffee drinks are refreshing. Unfortunately, the syrups in their flavoured cold drinks tend to collect on the bottom of the cups, adding a grainy, sandy texture to each sip.

Aside from this minor tactile imbalance, the flavouring in Coffee Culture’s specialty drinks is good and does not separate from the rest of the drink. Their frozen ’ccinos — blended iced coffee beverages — are sweet without overwhelming the drinks’ other notes.

Their muffins are luscious. I favour pistachio, but the red velvet muffin does not fall far behind.

The café also sells Cheesecake Factory-brand cheesecake at an astronomical $8.95 a slice. That price point is even harder to justify because there are cheesecakes for sale at the Sobeys just across the parking lot from Coffee Culture for a better price.

The cakes are tasty, but the price seems to reflect the

tables, likely because the place is often packed from its 8:30 a.m. weekday opening time onward. This is unlikely to be a problem for most. Across my frequent visits over the course of two years, I have never been asked to leave even after hunkering down with my laptop for several hours.

All that is solid melts into espresso

brand rather than any outstanding qualities of the cakes themselves.

But because the clientele Coffee Culture serves ranges from post-secondary students to retirees, families with children and everyone in between, the time limit signifies a bigger problem with the café culture in Winnipeg South.

It is a loud social spot, with lo-fi hip-hop music that fits its low-key, chill atmosphere for stir-crazy students and working-from-home professionals tired of restlessly pacing around their houses. The message that people ought to move along is at odds with coffeehouse culture and with the choice to open a watering hole on one of the city’s main arterial roads that thousands of students shuttle down daily.

Coffee Culture has a strong menu, but the café’s way of dealing with its own popularity is at odds with its format.

All that is solid melts into espresso.

Coffee Culture’s selection of food includes a wide variety of baked goods and even a few vegan and gluten-free options.

Coffee Culture has a modest lunch menu too. The Asiago BLT does not dry out when toasted and is a nice savoury palate cleanser to the wider selection of sweets.

The café has a time limit on

What sparse indoor public spaces there are in the south end where people can park and socialize are suffocatingly crowded.

The vibe in the café reflects that widespread demand for a place to sit and chat.

Coffee Culture is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays with adjusted hours on weekends.

arts@themanitoban.com

Nevertheless, they are Still Here Short doc a behind-the-scenes look at ‘Hockey Can’t Stop Tour’

Grace Anne Paizen, staff

Ukrainian U25 Men’s National Team forward Gleb Krivoshapkin distinctly remembers the day his family learned that the Russian army had invaded their city last February. They were prepared to defend themselves with what they had — his mother with knives from the kitchen, his father with an axe and Krivoshapkin with hockey sticks.

Krivoshapkin’s story is detailed in the TSN Original short documentary Still Here, which takes viewers behind the scenes during the recent “Hockey Can’t Stop Tour.”

The short doc recaps the team’s journey from attempting to practice for the 2023 FISU World University Games between air sirens in Ukraine to its four-stop hockey tour against the Universities of Saskatchewan, Calgary, Alberta and Manitoba.

The film starts with footage of practice derailed by air sirens and the team sheltering in place. In fact, goalie Savva Serdiuk laments that there are air sirens nearly every day “and because of that we don’t have practices.”

The doc then cuts to voiceovers of news broadcasts detailing the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, paired with horrific scenes of bombings and destruction.

It is understandable that the doc’s focus is on the experience of the young hockey players in Ukraine and their wish to continue to play hockey for their country.

However, the documentary leaves out important details regarding how the U25 team got the chance to play the tour. The tour came about through communications between TSN play-by-play commentator Gord Miller, representatives of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine and representatives of the National Hockey and U-Sports Leagues, including the U of M Bisons’ own head coach Mike Sirant.

The film does explain that the tour was designed to raise money for the reconstruction of hockey facilities in Ukraine and humanitarian aid for

the country, but the details are very rudimentary in the doc and deserve a little more fleshing out.

What the documentary does best is showcase the horrific personal details of the players’ experiences while they are living their lives and trying to play hockey during the war — including defencemen Andrei Grigoriev’s story of a missile attack.

The film also handles the question “why play hockey during a war?” extremely well.

CEO of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine Aleksandra Slatvytska, who accompanied the team on its tour, may answer the question best.

Slatvytska emphasized that sports are “important for every country” because they show “that a country still exists,” meaning the U25 team playing hockey in spite of the war symbolizes Ukraine’s right to exist.

At times, the doc seems to rely on images of missile strikes and destruction, which comes across as filler because of the film’s short run-time of just under 10 minutes.

While this filler could be due to the team being left to enjoy its time away from the war, the conflict is inescapable. The short doc captures

The film also handles the question “why play hockey during a war?” extremely well

the devastation the athletes feel when the beloved Druzhkivka arena back home in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast (province) is destroyed by a missile attack on Jan. 2 in the middle of the tour.

This is perhaps the most relatable part of the doc. The audience doesn’t have to like sports or have played sports to understand the bitter loss of a home away from home being destroyed, something

the Druzhkivka arena was to many players on the team.

The film ends with the sheer, heartwarming gratitude the players have for their fans — particularly the Winnipeg crowd — who came out in droves to cheer them on during their time in Canada.

asked to be a part of.

Still Here is streaming for free at tsn.ca and on TSN’s YouTube channel.

Still Here is a commendable encapsulation of the past year of war in Ukraine, and the experiences of those in the middle of carnage they never arts@themanitoban.com

Bisons stampede Cascades at home

The herd’s playoff hopes still alive after weekend victories

Joshua Brandt, staff

The U of M men’s volleyball team faced the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (UFV) last weekend.

Going into the series against UFV, Manitoba was 7-13, but ready to make up ground in the Canada West (CanWest) conference standings.

The team was also looking to redeem a disappointing sweep at the hands of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (U of W) on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 with a couple of wins against the last place Cascades.

On Feb. 10, the herd started the game with conviction, winning the first set 25-21.

The Bisons followed up their strong effort in the first set with another win in the second.

This time, the herd won 25-23, with Nicoles Carter and Harrison Ens stuffing an attack by UFV’s Ryan Adams to pick up the decisive 25th point.

In the third, the Cascades rallied, winning the set 25-23 due in part to 10 U of M errors gifting the Cascades free points.

The Bisons got down to business in the fourth, however, quelling the UFV comeback by taking the set 25-21 and the game 3-1.

Rookie Sammy Ludwig led the team in assists with 36, while Spencer Grahame got 11 kills.

The game on Feb. 11 started with a very sentimental moment, in which an injured Brendan Warren playing in his final home game served to start the action.

The serve was an underhanded sky ball, which rose high into the air, before plummeting straight down, nearly finding its way over the net, but ultimately dropping just short.

Although the serve missed, the heartwarming moment put a smile on many people’s faces at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Despite trailing by as much as six, the herd took the first set 25-22.

The set was closed out by Grahame who went on a torrid serving run, clawing the Bisons back from being down 22-19 to 25-22.

In the second, the Bisons won a tight back-and-forth set 25-23.

Looking to close out the series sweep in the third, the Bisons simply overwhelmed a deflated UFV squad, winning the set 25-17 on a service ace from Nicoles Carter.

Eric Ogaranko led the way offensively, accumulating 10 kills, while Mathieu Lavoie was a difference maker on defence strapping up five Cascades attacks.

The team is now 9-13 and good for eighth place in CanWest as it clings to the last playoff spot while also hoping for Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (TRU) and U of W losses — both of whom trail the Bisons by a single game in the standings.

Lockport, Man. native Jack Mandryk also made history over the weekend.

Playing in his final home game, Mandryk moved into 10th place on the CanWest alltime assists list.

Mandryk dished out 30 assists in two games against UFV, moving his career total to an impressive 2,798 over a pro -

lific tenure with the Bisons.

On a humid July scorcher, that’s perhaps just as many ice-creams as the Half Moon dishes out in one day, but surely the good people of Lockport are still proud of Mandryk’s accomplishment.

Mandryk will need 362 more assists to pass University of British Columbia Thunderbird alum Milan Nikic for sole possession of ninth place.

With just two games remaining in the season and the prospect of playoff action for the Bisons still very much in the air, Mandryk will be hard pressed to usurp Nikic. However, if the herd ends up making a Cinderella run in the CanWest playoffs, he may just do it.

Though, the prospects of

spot

that are dubious at best. If the U of M can win at least one game this weekend, and both the U of W and TRU lose both of their games, the herd will clinch a playoff spot.

Mandryk and the herd will need all the long-distance support students can offer next week as the Bisons wrap up the regular season play against the University of Calgary Dinos Feb. 17 and 18 in Calgary, Alta.

sports@themanitoban.com

Winnipeg Jets

The team is now 9-13 and good for eighth place in CanWest as it clings to the last playoff

Bisons men’s hockey team falls short of playoff spot

The herd finishes eighth in Canada West conference

Quinn Mayhew, staff

The University of Manitoba men’s hockey team played out their last weekend of the regular season with a two-game series against the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

The Golden Bears had a quick start to Friday evening’s game, controlling the first period against the U of M and going up 1-0.

Despite the Golden Bears early success seizing a 2-0 lead, the herd managed to hang on going into the second period, as defencemen Chase Hartje scored to cut the Alberta lead in half.

Nevertheless, the end of Friday’s game was devasting for the herd in more ways than one.

First, the herd suffered a brutal 4-1 loss. Secondly, the team was forced to acknowledge that beloved head coach of the Bisons Mike Sirant would soon be retiring, as Friday’s loss meant that the Bisons were eliminated from playoff contention.

Friday’s loss also meant that Saturday’s game would be the very last Sirant would coach for the Bisons.

Sirant’s retirement is set to start in June 2023. With nearly 30 years of coaching under Sirant’s belt, the team will be left with a major absence behind the bench and very big shoes to fill in the months to come.

Sirant will retire as the Bisons head coach with the most wins, having recorded 333 Canada West (CanWest) regular season wins in his career. He also led the Bisons to the playoffs 21 times.

To cap off the final game of the season, the herd was

Bison briefs

Joshua Brandt, staff Bisons basketball

Both the women’s and men’s basketball teams were in Kamloops, B.C. this past weekend, taking on the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (TRU).

Both teams played the last two games of the Canada West (CanWest) conference regular season. The women’s team, which failed to qualify for the playoffs, played its last two games of the year.

The women’s season ended on a high note, winning both of their games against TRU and four of its last six.

On Feb. 10, the herd won the game 59-43, with Autumn

hoping to avenge Friday night’s loss and send Sirant off with a win.

In the first period, forward Michael King scored the underdog Bisons’ first goal. As the Bisons gained momentum and speed, they managed to tie the second place Golden Bears 2-2 with a goal by defencemen Parker Malchuk.

However, things quickly got out of hand in the second. Throughout the second and third periods, the U of M was unable to hold on to the tie or keep up with the Golden Bears’ electric energy, and was shut down by Alberta’s ironclad defence. As a result, the game turned into a blow out and Alberta swept the series, coming away with an 8-2 victory in Saturday’s game.

The U of M’s season ultimately ended with disappointment as the Bisons finished eighth in the CanWest standings, missing the playoffs.

Despite head coach Sirant leaving the U of M, the team will remember his countless achivements with the Bisons’ sports program and the game of hockey.

sports@themanitoban.com

Agar scoring a game high 15 points.

On Feb. 11, the herd blewout the WolfPack 89-45, getting its biggest win of the year in its last game.

Keziah Brothers poured in a game high 18 points, while Lauren Bartlett collected four assists.

After the two wins against TRU, the women’s team finished with a record of 6-14, outside of the playoffs in 14th place.

Manitoba ended the season with the 14th best offence and the 13th best defence, which would indicate that the team didn’t deserve to make the playoffs — at least, statistically.

The individual leaders for the Bisons this season were Brothers, who led the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game, Bartlett who led the team in assists and steals with 5.2 assists per game and 3.0 steals per game and Emily Johnson, who led the team in rebounding snatching 5.7 boards per game.

In CanWest, Bartlett finished third in assists per game but led the conference in total assists with 103. A true thief on the court, Bartlett also led CanWest in steals per game and led CanWest in total number of steals with 61. And to top it off, Bartlett averaged the most minutes per game, while playing the most minutes

out of any player in CanWest, leaving everything on the line for 710 minutes.

Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team had a fantastic outcome in Kamloops, winning both games and breaking the program’s regular season wins record, collecting its 18th win of the season on Feb. 11, 84-50.

On Feb. 10 the team had won a tighter game 82-76.

Since the advent of the CanWest conference, this Bisons basketball team is the best the school’s ever put on the floor in terms of its win-loss record.

The team also clinched first place in the CanWest standings with a formidable 18-2 record, one game better than

last year’s CanWest champion the University of Victoria Vikes, who were 17-3 this year.

The herd will host a playoff game on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. against the winner of a play-in game, which takes place at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Feb. 17 between the University of Calgary Dinos and the Trinity Western Spartans.

Expect big things from this team going forward as the herd will host every CanWest playoff game it plays in.

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photos / Matthew Merkel / staff